Why GH’s Nurses’ Ball Matters

Someone, soapgod love ’em, FINALLY remembered what the Nurses’ Ball was meant to be. Manifest? On the surface it was the chance for the citizens of Port Chuckles to come together and let their hair down. They would sing, dance, project an air of happiness and togetherness, if only for one night. Was every NB about hand holding and singing love songs with mortal enemies? No, not a one of them! There was always tension balanced against wanted and unwanted surprises. Relationships were made and relationships were broken. There were the moments that lulled you into believing nothing bad could ever happen, just before you were hit between the eyes. Murder! Arrests! Affairs revealed!

The Ball has always been about more than Host Lucy Coe’s fantastic wardrobe changes. There was the latent content as well, the storyline below the surface, a storyline we did not know we were applauding. The Nurses’ Ball is also about hope, rehabilitation, renewal, and acceptance. Who could forget the first Nurse’s Ball following Stone’s death, with Robin’s public revelation that she is HIV positive? Keep in mind that Stone and Robin performed at the first ball just a couple of years prior!

Robin heard from AJ Quartermaine and others about the horrors of HIV, the terrible fears they had being in the same room as a person with the disease. She watched as Stone dealt with love and acceptance countered by fear and rejection, and without him, her time had come. Every Nurses’ Ball seemed to have at least one citizen of Port Chuckles using the ball to make a direct, or indirect, plea for acceptance.

I saw all of the above, and more, at this year ball.

Manifest

The musical numbers were all perfect. Fun, light, fantastic! Rebecca Herst? So amazing. I was shocked that her character “Liz” was thrown in with the young adult crowd, and then I looked at her, closely. No one would know that she was older than anyone in that group, and that she’d participated in the earlier Nurses? Ball. I’m not much of an Elizabeth fan, I haven’t been since the end of LL2 (Liz and Lucky) but Rebecca Herbst? She gets better with time! (Oh, and way to go making me miss Real Andrews, whose Det. Taggart would have been a perfect complement to Det. West.)

I was glad to see Liz and Ric at the ball. I have always enjoyed Elizabeth with Ric more than any other of her not-Lucky loves. There is something more real and less seedy about them than anyone else she’s ever been with and if she could just get beyond him holding Carly hostage in a panic room in their home, with the intent on stealing her child to give to Liz and then killing Carly, well.. .they could be very happy together. Right? Sadly, in daytime, that’s not even the WORST sentence you could write about a soap character. Still, Ric Lansing a damned bit better than a fair number of his GH colleagues, including brother Sonny.

Detective Sexypants? I refuse to be convinced that Nathan West (Ryan Paevey) is anything other than computer generated. He must be! How else can you explain how ridiculously good looking he is – no real person should be that gorgeous – ever! That RP happens to also be an engaging actor makes you wonder who, in casting, is not being paid enough after finding this guy. If Paevey doesn’t hit your “yum button”, no matter who you are, I think you should check your pulse. You may not have one.

My only complaint is that I’m a little upset with the writers for making me feel sorry for Brad (assuming it was their intent). Felix always deserved better than the treatment he received from his manchild boyfriend, but to have Felix and Lucas get close like that with Brad on the outside? Wow. I loved it, and still felt bad for the guy. There are no bad guys, ultimately, in this “brad centered triangle”. It has to end eventually and I will feel awful for the person who eventually has to bow out. Well done, writers! You’ve created the perfect triangle – one moving me to root for all involved, at least for now.

Latent

Maxie’s relationship with (what’s his name?) seems to be all about punishing herself for not being the person she thinks she should be, instead of accepting herself as she is. I can’t wait for Maxie to forgive herself and move forward. That guy is driving me nuts. It feels as if Maxie is living her own version of what hell must be like. He’s not a bad guy, just not the guy for Maxie.

Luke’s selection? “I am What I am” from La Cage Aux Folles. Pitch perfect selection, since we all know that this is not Luke Spencer! Tony Geary is so masterful that his eye movements in those scenes are Emmy worthy. Here is the question, GH fans: who DO we enjoy more? Real Luke or Faux Luke? Our Anti-hero has walked that dark line for so long that having him cross over didn’t change much, did it? I think Luke’s storyline is as much a Rorschach test for the audience as it is a reflection of Luke’s past – one filled with doing and being damaged to the point that no one misses the real Luke when he’s gone. There will never be another Tony Geary, folks. I can’t see this storyline working in anyone else’s hands.

We got to see that Obrecht really is the tree from which Britt’s apple fell. Obrecht may have a hard outer shell, but her repeated attempts to be accepted by the citizens of Port Chuckles suggests that she still wants more. She wants legitimacy if she can earn or steal it, but will live with having the town fearing and loathing her if it’s all she has. She is begging for Nathan’s affections, now. I have to wonder what will happen (to him) once she’s tired of begging and decides that he is not worth the trouble of trying to get him to love and accept her.

Thank you, GH, for a show so fantastic that I was inspired to blog, again.